§ 27. Mr. Hickmetasked the Secretary of State for Transport what change there has been in the performance of state-owned transport companies which have been denationalised since 1979.
§ Mr. RidleyFormer state-owned transport companies are now free from constraints on their development and can profitably expand their activities and increase investment. The success of our policy for former state-owned transport companies is reflected in the increased share price of the companies which we have sold: for the National Freight Consortium, employees have seen the value of their investment multiply over 20 times since privatisation; for Associated British Ports, the value of shares has nearly quadrupled since the original share sale in 1983. There are no other quoted companies in this category.